Mr. Hehr: Mr. Speaker, on February 9 the Kainai Community Corrections Society, who operate a corrections facility for Alberta’s aboriginal population, were told they would have to close their doors on March 31 because this government would no longer provide funding to the facility. 

To the Solicitor General. After meeting with the people from Kainai, they indicated that the ministry was pleased with the performance of the facility. Given that, I was wondering why the corrections facility was being closed when so many aboriginal offenders could benefit from its existence.

The Speaker: The hon. minister.

Mr. Oberle: Well, thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the hon. member for that question. It allows me to clarify that there is absolutely no performance issue involved here. It’s a simple matter of the fact that our minimum security inmate population has dropped radically as a result of conditional sentences, community supervision, those sorts of things, and the Kainai centre is around about 50 per cent capacity and continues to decline. I have those resources available in other centres, and we’ve made a budgetary decision. It has nothing to do with performance.

Mr. Hehr: Well, given that the Kainai community corrections facility is designed and operated for aboriginal offenders, who make up 35 per cent of Alberta’s prison population, and not only that but it also employs 29 people on the Blood reserve, accordingly, could the Solicitor General please explain to me how closing this facility helps these aboriginal Albertans?

Mr. Oberle: Well, once again, Mr. Speaker, my job here is to provide correctional services for the entire population spectrum of the province of Alberta. The fact is absolutely crystal clear. We have very few minimum security inmates anymore. That is a minimum security facility, and I can’t fill it.

Mr. Hehr: Finally, Mr. Speaker, why did the Solicitor General give only 50 days’ notice to the Kainai community corrections facility that they would be closing their doors within 50 days? Why the short notice?

Mr. Oberle: Mr. Speaker, I am planning to meet – we’re trying to arrange a date – with the leadership there, and we’ll certainly talk about that. The fact of the matter is that I can’t release budget details any time before the budget is actually tabled in the House, so I had no possibility of warning them of what was coming there. I will meet with the community and discuss their concerns.

Alberta Hansard, March 10, 2010

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